[Varun_HexaGuy]

Hey guys,
I need your help in choosing the right forum software for my forum. I'm using the MyBB forum software which is available for free from the past 9 months.

The user experience has been pretty good considering it's a free forum software. It gets all the basics right. The good (and bad) part is MyBB rolls out regular updates for its users. The good part about the updates is it fixes glitches reported by users from time to time. The worst part is, every new update ruins a user feature which used to work perfectly before the update. I've now run out of patience wasting time upgrading my forum software from time to time because of these issues. These issues have set me back big time. Thus, hampering our productivity!

I am now seriously looking for a paid forum software or even a free forum software if its that good. Need your suggestions on this front. Being a college-going student, budget is tight (the max I can shell out is 10-12k) .

Thanks in advance
Cheers!

[digitalnirvana]

I'd say xenforo as it is much more mobile friendly and has a good amount of customization. Downside is you will probably have to put some effort in the migration. A very popular football forum - that I am a member of - switched to xenforo from a custom myBB setup a few years ago, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

I'd say xenforo as it is much more mobile friendly and has a good amount of customization. Downside is you will probably have to put some effort in the migration. A very popular football forum - that I am a member of - switched to xenforo from a custom myBB setup a few years ago, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Thank you, sir! I was indeed looking at the Xenforo when I'd started off. But then, we'd (me and my friend) spent decent money on other stuff like domain, official email, Web hosting et al. We ran out of money then and we had to go with the MyBB free forum software.

Do you have any experience with the Xenforo 2.0? Off late I've heard people saying it's evolved and is much better than Xenforo and I've also heard people say Xenforo was better than Xenforo 2.0. Mixed reviews make it all that difficult for me. Data migration is surely a problem with Xenforo but people say its easier with Xenforo 2.0. For my budget, I obviously can't spend on anything more expensive than the Xenforo.

How are the plugins for the Xenforo or Xenforo 2.0?

For MyBB, most of the plugins came right out of the box. What we all did was just add Google SEO and GoMobile plugin in addition to the basic plugins which came right out of the box.

[typlo]

I have used I.P Board by Invision in the past. Although it is paid, nothing comes close to it for UI as well as features. Have a look. Buying license for the first time is expensive but renewals are affordable. You can choose which features you want to pay for too.

Look for the on-premise license.

[GTO]

Would recommend you to pick Invision or Xenforo. Both are top class by current standards. If you're thinking long-term, I'd suggest Invision as it's more of a "company" rather than Xenforo which is more of a 2 - 3 person organisation which may or may not shut down abruptly.

Vbulletin was the gold standard all through the 2000s (Team-BHP runs on it too). But after their sale to Internet Brands, it all went downhill. VB4 and the early versions of VB5 were particularly bad. That said, the latest version has much improved and has many positive reviews, but forum experts still consider it to be a step behind to Invision & Xenforo.

Trivia: We'd originally started off on Ikonboard and then smartly moved to vBulletin in the first year itself. Screenshot from 2004:

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by typlo

I have used I.P Board by Invision in the past. Although it is paid, nothing comes close to it for UI as well as features. Have a look. Buying license for the first time is expensive but renewals are affordable. You can choose which features you want to pay for too.

Look for the on-premise license.

Yes sir. I've looked into Invision. The base package sounds quite affordable but the addons would make it expensive. Since you're using that, may I know what all features would come in right out of the box? I've tried googling but couldn't find anything. I just need some basic stuff since we're small right now. If the basic package has everything what we need, then we wouldn't spend on the add-ons.

Originally Posted by GTO

Would recommend you to pick Invision or Xenforo. Both are top class by current standards. If you're thinking long-term, I'd suggest Invision as it's more of a "company" rather than Xenforo which is more of a 2 - 3 person organisation which may or may not shut down abruptly.

Vbulletin was the gold standard all through the 2000s (Team-BHP runs on it too). But after their sale to Internet Brands, it all went downhill. VB4 and the early versions of VB5 were particularly bad. That said, the latest version has much improved and has many positive reviews, but forum experts still consider it to be a step behind to Invision & Xenforo.

Thank you, sir! I've looked into both Invision and Xenforo. Both cost approximately the same. But the thing is I know what it is with the Xenforo. Xenforo offers all the basic add-ons inbuilt while if I need any extra add ons they aren't that expensive when compared to Invision. I have no clue about what Invision has to offer. Still doing my research.

Going by the recommendations, it should be either Xenforo or Invision for us.

I'd be needing your help in selecting the right package as well sir. Meanwhile, I've found this and looks interesting. Would love to hear about this from you : https://www.themehouse.com/xenforo/subscribe

[tinshark]

Are you looking at only PHP based solutions. If not I highly recommend Discourse. Very well designed and clean and snappy interface.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by tinshark

Are you looking at only PHP based solutions. If not I highly recommend Discourse. Very well designed and clean and snappy interface.

Well, I've not restricted myself to PHP based forum softwares and am open to anything as long as the experience on a whole is good. I'm looking for something which is cheap and affordable. We usually find packages of Xenforo (and others) for $100 or more per year or lifetime. Discourse is way out of our budget at $100 per month! No way I can spend that much amount of money at this stage in life (considering I'm jobless whose only source of income is the pocket money from his parents)

Looks like Xenforo or Invision are the way to go. But I'm confused with which package to go for.

Guys I also have a doubt. We have a custom designed homepage ready. Since MyBB wasn't allowing us to tag the homepage, we didn't tag it. I'd like to know if Xenforo or Invision would support tagging of a homepage?


Thanks for all the help guys,
Cheers!

[tinshark]

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

Well, I've not restricted myself to PHP based forum softwares and am open to anything as long as the experience on a whole is good. I'm looking for something which is cheap and affordable. We usually find packages of Xenforo (and others) for $100 or more per year or lifetime. Discourse is way out of our budget at $100 per month! No way I can spend that much amount of money at this stage in life (considering I'm jobless whose only source of income is the pocket money from his parents)

Actually, Discourse is open source and you are free to host it wherever you want and you don't have to pay them for the software. You only pay for the hosting cost. If you want them to host and manage it then it costs so much. If you know your way around the command line, even the basics, it is quite simple to set it up on your own server.


I am not familiar with Xenforo or Invision, maybe they are easier to host and manage. In which case you should go for it.


Good luck with your forum!

[y2k]

I've used phpBB, simple machines forums myself and I think for a brief period bulletin as well back in the day with my websites as well as for others when I was freelancing. I don't recollect using invision power board but I know it's a good alternative. They're all good although simple machine forums is slightly limited and this brings me to an important question - what is your purpose and why do you want to change?

If new updates break features then I'd wait for a stable update and into a review has been posted. This is rather common with most free/open source softwares and that's why source branches are created. I'm not following the forum software scene actively but I imagine it can't much different. You must consider how many active users you've and which functionalities you need. If there are free add-ons or if the paid versions have native support for what you want to achieve. Without knowing all that I can't really recommend except they yes all these are good software and can get the job done with little to no knowledge yet for somebody who wants deep customization or advanced features allow enough to tinker plus sufficient support.

[typlo]

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

Yes sir. I've looked into Invision. The base package sounds quite affordable but the addons would make it expensive. Since you're using that, may I know what all features would come in right out of the box? I've tried googling but couldn't find anything. I just need some basic stuff since we're small right now. If the basic package has everything what we need, then we wouldn't spend on the add-ons.

My package. You absolutely need forums and gallery. Downloads is awesome too. I needed a fully functional forum that's why I chose this package. Your choices may differ. Upfront is expensive but renewals are cheap.